During the past twenty-six years as an educator, I have discovered that there is a great deal of truth in the Chinese proverb, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Most students I have encountered respond better to lessons and activities in which they can be actively engaged, where they can “do” and in turn demonstrate their understanding of concepts. Technology tools provide an excellent way to actively engage students in the learning process.

As an instructional technology integrator, I have the opportunity to provide county-wide staff development training for teachers as well as other integrators. Through these classes, teachers have learned how to integrate clay animation projects into the curriculum and projects have been successfully completed with elementary, middle and high school students. 

At Providence Elementary and Grange Hall Elementary, the fifth graders focused on science by creating oceanography clay animation movies as the culmination of their Big6 research project.  At Winterpock Elementary, fifth graders are working to retell a favorite novel, The Mistmantle Chronicles-Urchin of the Riding Stars. Although some of the ingredients may vary, clay animation is part of an award winning recipe for our students.
           
A challenge facing many teachers is encouraging students to share their thoughts and ideas in writing. This year, in conjunction with a kindergarten teacher, I began a project using Pixie 2 as a means to encourage early writing skills in young students. The students were first introduced to Pixie 2 using one of the activities included in the program and then shown how to use the drawing tools to illustrate their thoughts and ideas. As they are developmentally ready to put letters, words and sentences together, they are introduced to the text tool. We hope to demonstrate that students who are reluctant writers are showing increased interest in writing when given an engaging tool to share their unique ideas.     

In my experience, Tech4Learning tools have proven to be a means for teachers to engage students, students to create amazing projects and for both to share in the joy of teaching and learning!